Buried Burdens Underground Fuel Tanks Threaten County Road 400 North Project

Bettina Puckett-Staff Writer

Years ago, folks around Fairland often stopped off at Frodie's Place Food Center to fill up their gas tank or buy a gallon of milk.The gas station has been closed for several years, but now its leaking underground gasoline storage tanks present an environmental problem that could affect the next phase of the County Road 400 North project, which is due to be bid in the spring.When David Griffin purchased the old gas station a few years ago at a tax sale, he bought it as an investment property but has made no improvements to the property. But on Oct. 23, he lost the two parcels of land in another tax sale.Shelby County Auditor Amy Glackman said Griffin owed $1,802.78 in taxes on the property. At the recent tax sale, a man named Vinod C. Gupta, in care of Banco Popular Lien Holder Rudy, of Miami Lake, Fla., purchased the two parcels for $4,400.

At Monday night's regular weekly meeting of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, Griffin told the commissioners that he didn't learn the tax sale had happened until Oct. 24."My intentions are to pay the taxes and get the property back," Griffin said.By Wednesday, Griffin had not yet reclaimed his property, and Glackman said the penalties and interest are growing.Grant money available

In the meantime, the problem of the leaking underground storage tanks has not been addressed. Under the Indiana Brownfields Program, petroleum remediation grants are awarded throughout the state to help clean up the contamination left from the old tanks.Ken Coad, a project manager with the program, said last August that $97,000 is in the state's budget to help clean up Frodie's. But since the old gas station is privately owned, the owner must give permission for the clean-up to begin. And since the ownership is now uncertain, cleanup is on hold.

Coad was out of the office this week and could not be reached for comment. Several tries to a phone number that Griffin provided in the commissioners' meeting produced only a busy signal.

Coad had explained that Indiana is divided up into seven regions, and Shelby County is located in Region 2. "Each region was awarded $750,000 to clean up leaking underground storage tanks that have been identified by our consultant," Coad said at the time.Dan Fortune, a project director with American Environmental of Indianapolis, said in August that Griffin hired his company to do some initial tests at the site. After doing seven borings, Fortune said a lot of contamination was found in the soil and ground water. Fortune was unavailable for comment.

All of this news of contamination does not sit well with Michael and Francine Turner, who own a home right next to the old gas station. Francine Turner said some people had come to take water samples about the time that the first story appeared in The Shelbyville News."The people said they would get back to us in 30 to 60 days, but we never heard from them," Francine Turner said. "We need to know what's going on."The Turners have lived in their well-kept yellow house next door to the gas station for 26 years. She is concerned about how the contamination might have affected their well water.

The family's house is located near the corner of South Edgerton Street and West Carey Street. The Turners have watched the gas station deteriorate through the years, but they have been good neighbors and have mowed the grass around the old store so that it doesn't detract from their home.

Episode brings back bad memories the whole episode reminds Commissioner Dave Mohr of when county officials had to deal with contamination from an underground storage tank at the old county jail before the new jail was built. "We went through some miserable times to clean that up," Mohr said. "Finally, (the state) said it was OK, and we went on down the road."Mohr has learned from experience that most everything having to do with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and other state agencies takes time.

He and his fellow commissioners, Roger Laird and Tony Newton, are wondering whether the $97,000 grant, when it is finally approved, will cover the entire cost of the cleanup at Frodie's. They don't want county taxpayers paying the rest of the cost.

Also, Phase 2 of the County Road 400 North project hangs in the balance. Phase 3 was recently completed, while Phase 1 was finished in 2003. Phase 3 was completed before Phase 2 because that portion of the road had no shoulders and was dangerous for drivers.At Monday night's meeting, the commissioners tabled any action on the petroleum remediation grant for two weeks to give Griffin time to pay his back taxes and reclaim his property. Griffin said a representative from the Shelby County Highway Department made him an offer from the county to buy the land a year ago, but the deal was never finalized."We had preliminary plans, but that was before the contamination showed up," Mohr said at the meeting. "The plan now is to keep the right of way as tight as we can."Rather than include sidewalks in the portion of CR 400 North that will be built in front of the store, through the contaminated area, the county has decided tentatively to eliminate those sidewalks."We were told to stay completely away from that (contamination)," Newton said.

Because the old gas station is on privately owned land, the county commissioners do not want the county to be liable for any of the cleanup costs."I don't want them stringing it out for two years and holding up that road project," Newton said.The federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates that nearly 25 percent of the underground fuel storage tanks in the United States might be leaking, according to a Purdue University Web site.